Mountain Tour
"An alpine tour in a garden of mineral needles" (equipment recommended)
From the hotel take the RN 196 towards Propriano then after 3 miles at the crossroads
turn right onto the D 268 towards Alta Rocca, Zonza, col de Bavella.
At an altitude of 1,218m you will find a car park, and a guaranteed breath of fresh air. In the brisk wind, the tall laricio pines sway in the clear sky.
The white statue of Our Lady of the snow on its mound of stones is a soothing presence in this landscape of jagged red granite.
The walk starts at the foot of the Punta di l'Acellu with a sharp descent across the stones and the first masses of fallen pink granite. You will then discover the moors of tree heath, thyme (arba barona), nepita and peppermint.
After one hour you will reach the Donicelli stream. On the southern side the needles reach their highest point at 1,600m.
At this point, with binoculars you may be lucky enough to see some Corsican mouflons.
There are roughly 200 of them on the Bavella massif. They are distinguished from their northern neighbours by their curved antlers and earlier lambing season.
After the Aja Murata stream, the path evens out on a better oriented slope where long gentian grow.
The walk towards the north climbs among the groves, surrounded by the song of the nuthatch, under the watchful eye of the bearded vulture
that uses the warm currents of air to hover above. These are now a protected species of around twenty birds grouped on the island’s highest points.
After a few steep slopes, at about 1,320m the path marked yellow climbs in sharp bends to the crest of Baccadi Pargulu at 1,662m from which you should descend south - south-east towards the Punta di a Vacca, Punta di l'Accellu.
Walkers will be accompanied by the song of the yellow-grey feathered mountain citril finch, the yellow-billed chough, or the blue, white and orange rock thrush. If you take a glance at the sky you may see large ravens performing acrobatic feats.
The walk becomes increasingly breathtaking on the rocks but for safety reasons there is a handrail, and the path continues down the eastern slope of the needles. It takes roughly 1 hour to reach the Bavella pass again.
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